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ARTICLE VIII JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT

ALAGBAN | GALURA | MANAHAN | UY | I-D CONSTITUTIONAL LAW 1

Section 1 - JUDICIAL POWER

Par. 1 Vested in:

a) one Supreme Courtb) lower courts as may be established by law

Par. 2 Scope

a) To settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable andenforceable

b) To determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretionamounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or

instrumentality of the Government.

Section 2 JURISDICTION

Par. 1 Congress: shall have the power to define, prescribe and apportion with the

exception of cases in Section 5 hereof.

Par. 2 Reorganization: No law shall be passed reorganizing the Judiciary when it

undermines security of tenure

Section 3 FISCAL AUTONOMY

Par. 1

- Appropriation may not be reduced- After approval, appropriations shall be automatically and regularly released

Section 4 - COMPOSITION

Par. 1 15 members:

a) a Chief Justiceb) 14 Associate Justices- May sita) En Bancb) In its discretion (division of three, five or seven)- Vacancy shall be filled within 90 days from occurence

Par. 2 Hearing and Decisions- Cases involving constitutionality of a treaty, international or executive

agreement, or law shall be heard by the Supreme Court en banc

- Rules of court (required to be heard en banc) regarding the constitutionality,application and operation of: PDs, proclamations, orders, instructions,

ordinances, and other regulations.

Par. 3 Divisions

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- Cases heard by a division shall be resolved with the concurrence of a majority ofthe Members who actually took part in the deliberations and in no case withoutthe concurrence of at least three of such Members.

- Doctrines shall only be modified or reversed by the Supreme Court sitting enbanc

-Section 5 POWERS

Par. 1 - Original jurisdiction:

a) cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consulsb) petitions for certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto, and habeas

corpus.

Par. 2 - Review, revise, reverse, modify, or affirm on appeal or certiorari, as the law or the

Rules of Court may provide, final judgments and orders of lower courts in:

a) constitutionality or validity (treaty, international or executive agreement, law,presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance, or regulation)

b) Legality (tax, impost, assessment, or toll, or any penalty)c) Jurisdiction of any lower court in issued) Criminal cases (reclusion perpetua or higher)e) Error or question of law

Par. 3 - Temporary Assignment of Judges

- Lower courts to other stations (public interest)- Shall not exceed six months without consent of the judge concerned

Par. 4 Change of venue

Par. 5 Promulgate rules

On:a) Protection and enforcement of constitutional rights, pleading, practice andprocedure in all courts

b) The admission to the practice of law, the integrated bar, and legal assistanceForm:

a) Simplified and inexpensive procedure for the speedy disposition of casesb) Uniform for all courts of the same gradec) Shall not diminish, increase, or modify substantive rights.d) Other rules shall remain effective unless disapproved by the Supreme Court

Par. 6 Appointment of all officials and employees in the Judiciary

Section 6 Administrative Supervision over all Courts and personnel thereof.

Section 7- QUALIFICATIONS

Par. 1 Justices

a) Natural-born citizen of the Philippinesb) At least 40 years of agec) For 15 years or more a judge of a lower court or engaged in the practice of law in the

Philippines

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Par. 2 Qualifications

- Congress shall provide- Must be members of the IBP- Citizen of the Philippines

Par. 3 Characteristics: competence, integrity, probity, and independence

Section 8 JUDICIAL AND BAR COUNCIL

Par.1 - Composition

a) Chief Justice as ex officio Chairmanb) Secretary of Justice (ex officio member)c) Representative of the Congress (ex officio member)d) Representative of the Integrated Bare) Professor of lawf) Retired member of the SCg) Representative of the private sectorPar. 2 Term of Office

a) regular members appointed by President: 4 yearsb) Representative of Integrated Bar 4 yearsc) Professor of Law 3 yearsd) Retired Justice 2 yearse) Representative of private sector 1 yearPar. 3 Clerk of the Supreme Court as Secretary ex officio

Par. 4 Emoluments

- Determined by the Supreme Court-

SC shall provide its annual budget

Par. 5 Recommending Appointees may exercise other functions and duties as theSupreme Court may assign it

Section 9 APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS

Par. 1 Supreme Court and lower courts

- Appointed by the President from at least 3 nominees from the JBC- Need no confirmation

Par. 2 Lower courts

-

President shall issue the appointments within ninety days from the submissionof the list.

Section 10 & Section 11 BENEFITS

Sec. 10 Salary fixed by law and shall not be decreased during continuance in office

Sec. 11 Tenure: during good behavior until they reach the age of 70 years or become

incapacitated

- Disciplining Members: SC shall have power to discipline judges of lower courtsor order their dismissal

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Section 12 RESTRICTIONS- shall not be designated to any agency performing quasi-judicial or

administrative functions

Section 13, 14, & 15 - DECISIONS

Sec. 13 Conclusions

Sec. 13 Consultation

Sec. 14 Stating the Legal Basis

Par. 1 No decision shall be rendered

Par. 2 No petition or motion for reconsideration shall be refused due

Course or denied

Sec. 15 Mandatory Period for Decisions

Par. 1 Time for action

Par. 2 Submitted for decision or resolution

Par. 3 Expiration of Period

Par. 4 Judgment despite expiration

Section 16 ANNUAL REPORT

- 30 days from the opening of each regular session of the Congress- Submit to the President of the Congress- Annual report on the operations and activities of the Judiciary